SUV runs stop sign, collides with school bus in Lehigh Acres; 2 students injured

Reporter: Breana Ross Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:
A charter school bus which was struck by a vehicle in Lehigh Acres. Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office

A busload of students had to wait for new transportation after their school bus was struck by another vehicle in Lehigh Acres Wednesday.

Florida Highway Patrol says an SUV driven by a 43-year-old Lehigh Acres woman ran a stop sign at the intersection of Jaguar Boulevard and Pine Cove Drive, colliding with a bus from charter school Donna J. Beasley Technical Academy that had 13 students on board.

The bus could be seen on video going up on two wheels.

Two students were transported to Lehigh Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. The driver of the SUV was cited for an infraction for running the stop sign.

“People should know that there are kids everywhere,” Dylan Garcia said. “They should know that it’s morning. There’s buses. They should be careful and know how to drive correctly around these areas.”

Garcia lives right at the intersection where the crash happened. He says he is glad to know the kids on the bus are OK, but he says he was also concerned about the little girl captured on video waiting at the bus stop on that corner.

“I know that one of my neighbors has a little girl that’s always there in the morning, and I heard that she was kind of close to the car crash, so it’s very dangerous,” Garcia said.

“There was a student standing on the one corner, right there in harm’s way,” FHP Lt. Greg Bueno said. “You can see how easy a tragedy could occur.”

Regardless of tragedy avoided during this crash. Neighbors say it’s a dangerous traffic area.

“Some people don’t even follow the stop sign,” Garcia said.

“Commercial trucks and cars going up and down this road at 65, 70 miles per hour,” Doug Craig said.

Both neighbors we spoke to told us they want to see more officers out here to make sure people are following the speed limit and stopping at stop signs.

Between the speeding, the rolled stop signs and the several crashes Craig has seen, he fears more kids will be hurt if something is not done.

“Kids walk up and down the road going to school,” Craig said. “Someone else is going to get killed because of the speed on this road.”

FHP released the below dashcam video of the crash Wednesday.

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